ScienceDaily (May 22, 2008)  With the price of a barrel of oil hovering around $120, U.S. drivers can expect to pay more at the pump in the near future, according to a new study by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

"There is room for retail gasoline prices to move up," said Kenneth Medlock III, a Baker Institute fellow in energy studies and one of the study's authors. While Medlock cautioned that seasonal variability and other factors could affect prices in the near term, he said gasoline could easily reach $4.20/gallon around the Memorial Day holiday, especially if demand spikes as it normally does.

The study, titled "U.S. Energy Policy and Transportation," is part of a series of working papers on "The Global Energy Market: Comprehensive Strategies to Meet Geopolitical and Financial Risks." It was co-authored by Medlock and Amy Myers Jaffe, the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies at the Baker Institute.

"In the short term," the study found, "temporary demand and supply factors can cause gasoline prices to rise substantially. Given the shortage in refinery capacity in the United States, these short-run departures have been growing larger and more frequent. Demand has grown steadily, but U.S. refinery capacity has not kept pace. Thus, the U.S. market has become increasingly dependent on foreign gasoline imports. At the same time, growing demand elsewhere in the world means increased competition for gasoline, which, in turn, drives up the price to attract imports during high U.S. demand periods."

However, the study also warned against blaming the growing demand in other countries for the high fuel prices in the United States. "Many have pointed to growing demand in Asia as the culprit for higher prices," according to the study, "but the United States consumes 33 percent of the worlds road transportation fuel and demand continues to grow. Thus, as American demand goes, so goes the world price of oil."

The only way to address high energy prices over the long term, the study's authors argued, is to curb U.S. demand growth. They call for "a combination of conservation, higher fuel efficiency, alternative fuels and greater domestic production capacity" to achieve "manageable and acceptable" gasoline prices in the future.

The study may be viewed at http://www.rice.edu/nationalmedia/multimedia/gasprice-transportation.pdf.

You should have a plan designed to deal with these higher gasoline prices.

You are correct.Gasoline prices are not going down anytime soon (read years).

I've already started by buying a motorcycle. I might fabricate a sidecar for it.

There are plenty of places I can walk to if need be. (grocery store, barbershop, motorcycle parts, etc)I know how to can and store food for winter use.One thing I'm still lacking is a wood stove or a fireplace for winter heating

3
posted on 05/21/2008 7:05:14 PM PDT
by Just another Joe
(Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)

The problem is Congress, not the Saudis or OPEC or anybody else. We have enough oil on the continental shelf and other domestic sources to be independent. Congress has shirked its responsiblity and allowed us to be manipulated by our enemies on a whim. It’s now a matter of national security and we should begin drilling at all available sources.

I just may start a stockpile of fuel myself. It is getting totally out of hand. Whatever kind of event(s) it will take to get some action out of the government to do something would probably be very disruptive for the short term. Apparently the thick-headed and the arrogant types in power just can't be bothered with reality.

10
posted on 05/21/2008 7:27:41 PM PDT
by wally_bert
(Tactical Is Still Missing A Chair!)

I want to get to where I can keep enough around for a couple of tanks worth for one of the vehicles and for the generator.

Should it ever come down to running it for the short term, I fully expect my liberal, hypocrite, eco-wacko neighbor to be on the warpath or actually try to fake being nice. Either way, I don't have that kind of capacity.

19
posted on 05/21/2008 7:57:29 PM PDT
by wally_bert
(Tactical Is Still Missing A Chair!)

Sadly, it will probably take quite a few for the elitist, marxist, arrogant, and terminally stupid political types to mean anything. Some of them will love it since there will be that many fewer common people around to be in the way of making utopia.

20
posted on 05/21/2008 8:00:18 PM PDT
by wally_bert
(Tactical Is Still Missing A Chair!)

“We have enough oil on the continental shelf and other domestic sources to be independent”

———I brought this point up in an argument with a friend,
He just told me the reason we don’t drill is because we will continue importing until the rest of the world runs out,
then we will tap into our own resources once the rest of the world is dry and we end up with the only reserves left.

I didn’t know what to make of it, i just left it at that!
aaaargh.
BTW I am unemployed now so i don’t use much gas. I fill up maybe once a month and gas i use is when i go visit my friends and family or hobby shopping. unfortunately friends live 20miles away, i do convince them to come my way and hang out too!
I hope to find a job soon though :)

21
posted on 05/21/2008 8:36:39 PM PDT
by 1FASTGLOCK45
(FreeRepublic: More fun than watching Dem'Rats drown like Turkeys in the rain! ! !)

We have enough oil on the continental shelf and other domestic sources to be independent.

"United States proven oil reserves declined to a little less than 21 billion barrels (3.3×109 m3) as of 2006 according to the Energy Information Administration, ...

If the United States had to supply its entire demand of 21 million barrels per day (3.3×106 m3/d) without resorting to foreign imports, existing US reserves would last only three years at the current rate of consumption." - link

I started the tactical reserve when there was the price run-up due to Katrina. Now it seems like it's a good idea for all holidays and for hurricane season. In addition there was a weekly fluctuation that made getting a weekly tankful a constant price monitoring exercise.

This does not take into account the worlds larges oil shale fields in Colorado (the highest quality shale in the world) and Wyoming that contain more than 1 TRILLION barrels that could begin production in the next decade (Source: Testimony of Terry O’Connor, Shell Executive, at Republican hearings last week on C-SPAN3).

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